I was at the bar the other night, and either I prompted – or a gentleman named Harold prompted – who are your top five favorite bands or artists?
Top one-to-two, easy to pick. Three takes a sec, and picking four and five takes a moment.
I am always dumbfounded when people can’t recite their favorite band. The one you discovered when you where a teenager, devoured the lyrics, and danced in your undies to the music. Maybe even checked yourself out in the mirror to. That’s always easy for me. But the remaining 2-5 took a deep, soul-felt thought.
Here are mine:
- The Darkness
- Atmosphere
- Led Zeppelin
- The Monkees
- Kate Nash
The Darkness have been my No. 1 since I was 13. I am now 29 (30 in April 2020 – blah), but I am IN. My mind and soul has been impregnated by their weirdness.
Atmosphere – fuck me. I call myself the Atmospshere-lyric connoisseur. This man has been able to articular the love, hate, sadness, loss, death, grief, depression, fun nights, mistakes, sex, regret, empowerment, etc. that one can feel in a lifetime. I am still learning from his words every day. And also happens to be the only artist I will listen to when I run, and that’s 11 years-running…you know, since you got that 8G iPod with your white or black MacBook 2007-2008 edition.
Led Zeppelin. My soul.
The Monkees. I carried a Monkees lunchbox in 3rd grade. I have “Someday Man” lyrics and a 1960s clothing pattern tattooed on my arm. I also wrote a long-ass sociology paper on their television program – a look at 52 episodes of ridiculousness, romps, sexism, stereotypes, and trips. Their songs have been written by some of the greatest singer-songwriters in history, and when they took a stab, it was psychedelic, and personal growth and expression. How else would we have gotten HEAD?
Kate Nash. MY GIRL. Four albums that have spoken to MY SOUL and made me realize my self-worth. More young girls and women need to know about Kate Nash and sing her words and head-bang to her music.